Have you ever noticed that you gain faster results when you workout with another person?  Why is it that the same exact workout plan when done in a group is much more effective than on your own?  The answer is truly mind over matter.

When we workout with another that person is there to push us, and we have a sense of peer pressure not to whine or try to avoid a certain exercise.  We also don’t have the tendency to lift lighter weights or not do the total reps.

By ourselves, there is a different story.  If we don’t feel like doing all ten reps, we do only eight.  “I really hate that exercise, I will do this one instead.”  Some of us even lift lighter weights because we don’t have a spotter there and hate asking others to stop their workout to come to us.  We allow our minds to take over.

There is a solution.  It involves pushing ourselves.  Now, I honestly believe that no matter how self-driven you are, you will never get the best results on your own.  However, we need to focus our minds on smaller pieces of the pie.

When it is our goal to run 3.2 miles, we often decide to take it easy or stop and walk when we are alone because our minds tell us our body is tired.  A trick I use is to focus on landmarks like the quarter-mile mark.  I race to that point, and once I get close I move the line to the next point.  When my mind says, “THIS SUCKS,” I reason that I am almost there.  Doing reps while lifting is the same thing.  I want 10 and am “done” at 6.  “OK, just get to eight” and so on till I hit my mark.

It takes a lot of patience and discipline to re-train our minds.  I do this in everything.  My goal is to drink at least 100 ounces of water a day.  I have a 32 ounce water bottle.  Even though I would rather have something else, I force myself to drink every drop.

What are some suggestions?

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